Clients

General Mills

Kevin Wilde
Chief Learning Officer (CLO)
General Mills

I worked with TRI Corporation during my tenure at GE’s Leadership Center at Crotonville.
There we used a TRI Corp. simulation as the capstone in the Management Development
Course – one of GE’s premier leadership programs. It was a natural for us to call
on TRI Corp. as we planned a new program for Director level managers at General
Mills. Our objectives were two-fold: 1) develop improved multifunctional business
skills in our Director population in support of our Holistic Margin Management initiative,
and 2) develop coaching skills in our Vice Presidents, to whom all Directors report.

The result was an innovative program involving both populations, in which the Vice
Presidents acted as owner coaches of the simulation companies managed by the Directors.
The Vice Presidents also functioned as Operational Reviewers of their simulation
company’s annual business performance. Former CEO Steve Sanger commented in a Fortune
Magazine article about General Mills’ leadership development activities. He said
that the business understanding fostered by the TRI Corp. simulation experience
had resulted in huge benefits – for example, R&D managers coming up with innovative
solutions to resolve marketing challenges.

TRI Corp. responded quickly with one of their existing simulations, using a business
quite different from General Mills. This took people out of their comfort zone and
forced them to think strategically, rather than getting bogged down in the minutia
of “this simulation isn’t exactly like General Mills.” The TRI Corp. approach also
allowed us to introduce specialized scenarios based on General Mills’ business issues
with a minimum of cost and effort.

Their use of live interactive role play made the experience as realistic as possible
in a simulated business environment. Both our Directors and Vice Presidents found
the experience to be dynamic and rewarding. Several Vice Presidents have volunteered
to participate in second and third programs. Alumni Directors, those newly promoted
to Vice President, have also volunteered to participate in the next round of programs.

TRI Corp.’s program has enabled us to significantly and dramatically enhance our
Directors' and Vice Presidents' skills and professional competencies. The program
truly has been a “Champion” for General Mills.